What to See in Morocco: 13 Essential Places

1. The great cities

Morocco's cities are its great set pieces, and no two feel alike. Two of them, Fes and Marrakech, deserve at least two days each; the others can be seen in a day or less.

• Marrakech: The 'Red City', with its souks, palaces, gardens and the nightly show of Jemaa el-Fna.
• Fes: Morocco's oldest imperial city and its largest medieval medina, famous for its tanneries and madrasas.
• Chefchaouen: A mountain town in the Rif painted in every shade of blue.
• Rabat: The calm capital, with the Hassan Tower and the Kasbah of the Udayas.
• Casablanca: Morocco's modern business city, home to the monumental Hassan II Mosque on the Atlantic.
• Meknes: A quieter imperial city of huge gates and royal granaries.

2. History and heritage

Two sites stand apart from the cities and are worth a detour. One is Roman, the other built of earth, and both sit in open countryside.

• Volubilis: The best-preserved Roman ruins in Morocco, with fine mosaics, close to Meknes.
• Aït Benhaddou: A fortified earthen village on the old caravan route, listed by UNESCO and seen in countless films.

3. Mountains, gorges and valleys

The Atlas ranges run across the middle of the country like a wall. Crossing them is one of the great drives of North Africa, and the valleys on the southern side are where the landscape turns from green to red.

• The High Atlas: Berber villages, walnut valleys and Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa at 4,167 metres.
• Todra and Dades gorges: Towering limestone canyons and a valley of red rock and kasbahs.
• The Drâa Valley: A hundred kilometres of palm groves between Agdz and Zagora.

4. The desert and the coast

Finally, the two edges of the country: sand in the south-east and ocean in the west. They are a long way apart, but each makes a perfect ending to a trip.

• Merzouga and Erg Chebbi: Morocco's highest dunes, and the place for a camel trek and a night under the stars.
• Essaouira: A breezy Atlantic port with white ramparts, blue boats and excellent seafood.

Local tip: If you only have a week, choose Marrakech, the desert and Fes. They show three completely different sides of the country.

5. Beyond the classics

If you have been to Morocco before, or have extra days, these places reward the effort.

• Skoura: A vast palm grove dotted with kasbahs, quieter than anywhere on the main route.
• The Valley of Roses: Fields of pink Damask roses around Kelaat M'Gouna, harvested in spring.
• The Ziz Valley: A canyon filled with date palms on the road from Fes to the desert.
• Ouzoud: The highest waterfalls in the country, north-east of Marrakech.
• Tangier and Asilah: The gateway to Africa and a small whitewashed town on the northern Atlantic.
• Ifrane and the cedar forest: Alpine roofs, tall cedars and wild monkeys in the Middle Atlas.

6. How to link them in one trip

The classic route for ten days runs from Casablanca to Rabat and Chefchaouen, down to Fes, across the Middle Atlas to Merzouga, then west through the gorges and Aït Benhaddou to Marrakech. With two weeks you can add Essaouira and the coast.

With less time, a one-way journey between Marrakech and Fes through the desert covers many of the highlights in three to five days.

7. Suggested routes by length

• 5 days: Marrakech, Aït Benhaddou, the Dades Valley, Merzouga and back, or onward to Fes.
• 7 days: Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Merzouga, the gorges and Marrakech.
• 10 days: Add Chefchaouen and Volubilis, with free days in Fes and Marrakech.
• 14 days: The full circuit with Essaouira and extra time in the Atlas.

Local tip: Travel one way if you can. Arriving in Casablanca or Fes and leaving from Marrakech saves a full day of backtracking.

8. Morocco's World Heritage sites

Nine places in Morocco are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and seven of them lie on or near the routes above.

• The medina of Fes (1981)
• The medina of Marrakech (1985)
• The ksar of Aït Benhaddou (1987)
• The historic city of Meknes (1996)
• The archaeological site of Volubilis (1997)
• The medina of Tetouan (1997)
• The medina of Essaouira (2001)
• The Portuguese city of Mazagan, in El Jadida (2004)
• Rabat, modern capital and historic city (2012)

9. When to go

Spring and autumn suit a full circuit best, with comfortable temperatures in both the cities and the desert. In summer, favour the coast and the mountains; in winter, the south is sunny and the Atlas is white with snow.

If your dates are fixed, adapt the route rather than the calendar. A July trip works well if you linger on the coast and in the mountains and keep the desert to a single night with air conditioning. In January, do the opposite: head south for the sunshine and save the north for another visit.

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